“Help me help you or help me hurt you” was National Security Agency chief Gen. Keith Alexander’s first-ever direct appeal to hackers to assist the NSA. (Photo Credit: PC Mag)

Damon Poeter (PCMAG.COM) – Help me help you or help me hurt you? National Security Agency chief Gen. Keith Alexander’s first-ever direct appeal to hackers to assist with national security was greeted with polite applause at the DefCon conference in Las Vegas on Friday but afterwards, it was a different story.

“The people who would say we are doing that should know better. That is absolute nonsense,” Alexander said, referring to former NSA employees who have told the media that the agency does just that.